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Plan · Your base is Sorrento

Getting around, three systems that do not talk.

Three systems serve this peninsula. None of them connect to each other. The train, the SITA buses and the ferries each reach their own places — and a few corners still need a car. This is what reaches where, and what you cannot do without one.

By Circumvesuviana train By SITA bus By ferry By car
The short answer

Three networks and a car cover the whole peninsula between them — but each reaches its own places, and none of them shares a ticket. Here is what gets you where.

System
What it reaches
What to know
Circumvesuviana train
Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples
Frequent, cheap, often crowded
SITA Sud buses
The coast road; Sant’Agata, Termini, Nerano
Ticket before boarding, at a tabacchi
Ferries
Capri, Positano, Amalfi, Naples
Faster than the road, weather-dependent
A car
Nerano, Marina del Cantone, Punta Campanella
Parking paid, limited, full by nine in August

Timetables change seasonally and the last useful return leaves earlier than you expect. Check the operator on the day — we do not publish a schedule or fare we have not re-checked.

The systems, one by one

What each network does, and where it stops

The Circumvesuviana train
Pompeii · Herculaneum · Naples

Sorrento to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples. Frequent, cheap, unglamorous, and often crowded. It does not go anywhere else.

SITA Sud buses
The coast road · the mountain villages

The coast road toward Positano and Amalfi, and the mountain villages: Sant’Agata, Termini, Nerano. Buy tickets before boarding, at a tabacchi — buses do not sell them. Buses fill early in summer, and the last useful return leaves earlier than you expect. Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi is the hub: without a car, everything on the southern side connects through it.

Ferries
Capri · Positano · Amalfi · Naples

Capri, Positano, Amalfi and Naples, from Marina Piccola. Faster and far more pleasant than the coast road, and weather-dependent. A trick worth knowing: a morning ferry from Positano to Amalfi connects with the bus up to Bomerano, and is often faster than going by road.

→ The beaches around Marina Piccola
What needs a car
Nerano · Termini · Bomerano

Nerano and Marina del Cantone — buses run, slowly and infrequently. Termini and Punta Campanella — same. Bomerano, for the Path of the Gods, is reachable by bus via Amalfi, but it takes hours.

→ Path of the Gods  ·  Punta Campanella
What a car cannot solve
Parking · the one-way problem

Parking is paid, limited, and full by nine in August. Published rates vary between €10 and €25 a day. And the one-way problem: the Path of the Gods ends on the other side of the mountain from where it starts. Leave the car.

Three networks, no shared ticket

The moves that make it work

Most of the peninsula is reachable without a car — but you switch between three networks, and none of them shares a ticket. Three things worth knowing before you set off.

The ferry trick

A morning ferry from Positano to Amalfi connects with the bus up to Bomerano — often faster than going by road.

faster than the coast road
Sant’Agata is the hub

Travelling without a car, everything on the southern side of the peninsula connects through Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi.

the southern connection
The last return leaves early

Buses fill early in summer, and the last useful return leaves earlier than you expect. Check the timetable on the day: it changes with the season.

⚠ check before you set off

Confirm departure times on the day — ferry, SITA and Circumvesuviana timetables all change seasonally. More on the Plan pages.

One thing to know before you board

SITA bus tickets must be bought before boarding — at a tabacchi, not from the driver — and buses fill early in summer. Ferries are weather-dependent, so always check the last useful departure before you set off.

Day trips →
Where these get you
Day trips from Sorrento
The whole menu of journeys, with honest travel times and which are worth the day.
The one-way walk
Path of the Gods
Bus to Bomerano, walk to Nocelle — the trailhead is on the far side of the mountain.
Nearest the boats
Sorrento beaches
Where the ferries leave from, and where to swim close to town.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a car in Sorrento?

No, and parking is difficult. Trains, buses and ferries reach most places, slowly.

How do you get to Nerano without a car?

SITA Sud buses from Sorrento or Sant’Agata, or by boat in summer.

Where do you buy bus tickets?

At a tabacchi before boarding. Not on the bus.

How do you reach the Path of the Gods trailhead?

Bus to Amalfi, then bus toward Agerola. Roughly two hours from Sorrento.

Is the ferry better than the bus?

Usually. Faster, more comfortable, and weather permitting, more beautiful.

Sources & verification

Timetables change seasonally, and some operator information is in Italian only. Always check the official source before you travel — we do not publish a schedule or fare we have not re-checked ourselves. The parking figure is a published range, not a fixed price.

SITA Sud (buses)  ·  EAV / Circumvesuviana (trains)  ·  ferry operators from Marina Piccola (boats)